It's best if you describe what you intend to use them for. Binoculars are one of those things that the more money you spend the higher the quality and better they are for certain purposes. At $100 or less, you are looking at about as cheap as you can go, so I'm assuming your purpose is casual looking around in good light conditions.

Zeiss, Leopold, & Swarovski are generally considered the best. Certainly Nikon has some good glass, as well as others. With the top Binos, you are probably looking at $1000-1,500 for that size of binocular. The top glass is known for amazing images at extremely low light, minimal distortion, good color, rugged, etc.

Have you selected a 7 X 35 for a reason? It's a good, size, just curious if you know that's the size you want. I have a 8X20 pair of Zeiss Victory (their highest line) that are amazing and extremely compact so it's easy to take to a sporting event, travel with or carry in a BOB. Another great size is the 8X42, but that's a huge binocular. Excellent light gathering though. For long range or stationary observation I have a 85mm Zeiss Victory spotting scope with a 20-75X viewfinder. It' insane how clearly I can make out something several miles away...assuming the mirage isn't heavy.

Anyway, you are probably getting the point. There are all kins of options and you generally get what you pay for. Determine your use and dollars available and folks can give you a good idea of what to look at.

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to reddirt14 For This Useful Post:

Nikon makes very good optics, but for less than $100 you won't be getting their best models. Anything is better than nothing, though.
There are many makes and models of binoculars, all kinds of combinations of power, size, weight and features. Go to REI, Sportsman's Warehouse, Cabela's or some similar outdoor sports store and look at what they have, look through them, handle them, etc. Then get what you want.

Harbor freight has a pair for $20. Not top ofthe line but my pair has held up for a couple of years now with no problems. These are more than good enough to let you know if you need better quality or not. Chances you won't want to spend $100 after getting these. http://www.harborfreight.com/10-x-50...ars-94527.html
•Panoramic wide-angle view
•10 x 50 power
•Range of view: 344 ft./1000 yards (105 meters/1000 meters)
•Foldable rubber eye cups
•Adjustable focus

The Following User Says Thank You to JDBushcraft For This Useful Post:

don't forget to check out your local pawn shops. i got my very high end nikon 7x50 "Night Owl" binocs at one for $50. excellent lenses especially at dusk and dawn when light is dim. had them for over 20 years now and they still look and function like new.

Don't buy the Nikon action bino's. I bought the 7x50 for about 250.00 and after I got home and started reading reviews on them, I found out that Nikon's Action binos are not water proof nor are they anti fog. The only binoculars that are both water proof and anti fog are Nikon's Monarch.

I was looking for some binocs in the $100 range a few years ago. I checked bird watching sites and opticstalk. The favorite seemed to be the Leupold Yosemite 8x30s. They are pretty nice for the price, and quite compact and light. I paid about $80.

Only one to buy is Bushnell perma-focus. Twisting a knob to follow a moving object is lame. Ever whale watch with regular binocs? By the time you locate the whale and attempt to focus its gone. With perma focus , there it is , now you are looking at it focused everytime where ever it pops up.
Ever bird watch a bird in flight? Try to follow a goldfinch going side to side and branch to branch down the trail with regular binocs. You will see it only if it sit still long enough for you to focus in. Gold finches don't sit long. You may never see it. Mean while with my perma-focus I followed it the whole time and even saw the hawk above hunting it all in focus at many random distances in seconds time, never once fussing with a knob.
Doing search/scan for game again the perma focus allows me to scan a grid never needing to focus when going from close to far.
Save your self a lot of money by trying the Bushnell perma-focus first.

I know you have put a limit of $100 for a pair of bino's; that IMO is unrealistic to get good quality optics on a budget. About 5 years ago there were a fair amount of WW2 6x30 bino's available but the surplus has dried up. I bought some Carl Zeis 6x30 Chec republic surplus(1960); from Deutsch Optic for $99. Best buy I have ever found.

Retail, bar none; the best bang for the buck will be the Steiner 8x30 Military/Marine. It can be had from some online retailers for $199 after rebate. This is the same price I paid over 10 years ago. Try these 2 retailers for best price:

I have had numerous friends and family take one look through my Steiners and wonder why they ever paid $1000+ for their high end german and swiss bino's. Opinions are are like arm pits; everyone has a couple. But, you cannot go wrong with these. The secret is volume; Steiner makes and delivers more quality 8x30's due to US and NATO military contracts, than any of their competitors combined. Give this binocular a look. No better value anywhere.

Regards

Rod

BTW a 6x30, 7x30 and 8x30 will give you more magnification than you will ever need. Leave the high powers at home; I am very happy with my surplus Carl Z 6x30 and Steiner 8x30. In fact, my wife has claimed my Steiners so she can watch my high school aged son play football from the stands. I am left with my CZ 6x30 for hunting. I can tell you it is more than enough bino.

It depends on what you want to do with them and what performance you expect from them. I like Nikons, they have very good lenses. If you're planning to use them in a wet environment, waterproof is the only way to go. I bought a pair of Nikon 7x50 waterproofs from optics planet for around $170.00 USD. They are not light weights, but the performance justifies the weight (IMO).

A little tutorial on binos... a little math first, divide the size of the objective lens (the big end) by the magnification power (exp. 35 divided by 7=5). By doing this you get the light gathering ability number for this particular unit. Anything below a "5" is MAINLY for daylight use...not to say they CAN'T be used in low light, they're just not as effective.

The higher the magnification, the smaller the field of view (usually expressed as X feet @ 1000yrds). Higher magnification is also NOTICEABLY less stable image wise (higher magnification, well, magnifies the tremors caused by your muscles, breathing and even your heartbeat). Ten power magnification is about the most you can use, hand-held and expect a (semi) stable image. 7x50s are, IMO, the best all around glasses for day & night (7.14 light gathering ability).

I would love to have a pair of Zeiss 8x56s and I'd give up that little tad of light gathering ability, sadly... out of my budget.

Low priced binos are not going to be as sharp and clear, they may be fine at the center of the lens, but the closer to the edge you get, the fuzzier the image becomes. I have some Bushnell 8x24 H2o compacts that are really blurry at the edges. I chose these for compactness & water resistance and got a very poor compromise.

If you can wait a bit and save a little more money toward the purchase, I think you'd be more satisfied in the long term with a pair of binos in the $150.00 to $200.00 range and the 7x50 power range.

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to joseywales44 For This Useful Post:

People that say you don't need binos either don't know how to use them or have never used them.

The answer "just use your scope " just might be in the top ten stupid answers of the month.

I have zero experiance in hunting used only a scope on the airgun in the back garden but I think the fiels of vieuw is les whit a scope than whit a bino, the use of the prisem makes a better picture, and scanning an area is mutch easyer whit a bino than a long rifele and not to mention the threat that people would feel pointing the barel their way (bad idea I think)

Rolf

The Following User Says Thank You to Rolf from Holland For This Useful Post:

People that say you don't need binos either don't know how to use them or have never used them.

The answer "just use your scope " just might be in the top ten stupid answers of the month.

Problem with the scope is:

1) Eye relief. You have to hold it steady a few inches from your eye. This is tiring and unstable.
2) Field of View. It is much smaller piece of real-estate you cover.
3) Depth Perception. You loose much of it.

Yes, it magnifies and works in a pinch. But a pair of binos is much easier and effective to use.